Mounting device for pedals in motor vehicles

ABSTRACT

A fastening device for pedals in motor vehicles has a supporting bolt ( 8 ) which is accommodated at each of its free ends in a mounting point ( 5, 5 A) of a pedal block ( 2 ). The bolt ( 8 ) has, between the mounting points ( 5, 5 A), a mounting point for the pedal. The pedal mounting point is arranged in a hole ( 7 ) of the pedal body ( 2 ). The supporting bolt ( 8 ) comprises two bolt halves ( 9, 10 ), which are locked with one another in the assembled state by an elastic snap holder ( 11 ). The bolt halves ( 9, 10 ) are fixed by at least one stop ( 13 ) with respect to their position to the pedal.

[0001] The present invention pertains to a fastening device for pedals in motor vehicles with a supporting bolt, which is accommodated at its free ends in a mounting point each of a pedal block and has a mounting point for the pedal between these said mounting points, wherein this mounting point is arranged in a hole of the pedal body.

[0002] Various embodiments of fastening devices of the type of this class described are used in both passenger cars and trucks. The supporting bolts used to mount the pedals usually consist of metal and have various designs in terms of their embodiment and position relative to the pedal block accommodating the pedals and the supporting bolt.

[0003] For example, the metal bolts used may be pressed on one side into the pedal block and provided with a knurling on the opposite mounting side accommodated in the pedal block. The pressing and knurling of the metal bolt guarantee that it will not change its position under any operating conditions and especially also in case of an accident. Furthermore, metal bolts provided with a securing element, e.g., a retaining ring, instead of a knurling, and in which fixation of the position is thus brought about, have been known from the prior art. Furthermore, embodiments designed as threaded bolts with a stop on one side, which are fixed by means of a nut, are also known as supporting bolts.

[0004] It is common to all exemplary embodiments described that they are designed such that they remain in their position in case of an accident, and the pedal mounted by means of the supporting bolt is possibly removed from the area of the foot of the vehicle's driver due to rotation around this supporting bolt.

[0005] Moreover, there are fastening devices known under the name pedal release system in the prior art, in which the walls of the pedal block are enlarged in their original distance from each other in case of an accident, so that the supporting bolt mounted on both sides in the walls and the pedal fastened thereto are released in order to reduce the risk of accident in the area of the driver's foot. The knurlings or securing elements mentioned are, of course, to be designed in such fastening systems such that they will not offer any substantial resistance in case of an accident to the forces now occurring to widen the pedal block. The drawback of all existing systems is that a plurality of manufacturing steps are necessary for fixing the supporting bolt for mounting the pedal on the pedal block.

[0006] The technical object of the present invention is to offer remedy here and to provide a fastening device of the class described in the introduction, which makes possible the manufacture of the individual parts of the fastening at low cost and also guarantees the simple and time-saving mounting of a pedal on the corresponding pedal block.

[0007] This technical object is accomplished by the technical teaching disclosed in the characterizing part of claim 1 in conjunction with the class-forming features described in claim 1.

[0008] The present invention provides for the supporting bolt comprising two supporting bolt halves, which are locked with one another in the assembled state by an elastic snap holder, the bolt halves being fixed by a stop with respect to their position to the pedal. This design according to the present invention permits the simple assembly of the entire fastening device, such that the bolt halves are pushed laterally from the outside into the respective mounting points of the pedal block and they also engage at the same time the hole of the pedal arranged centrally between the mounting points of the pedal block. The bolt halves are introduced to the extent that the snap holder arranged at the ends of the bolt halves, which ends face one another, will lock, and the fixation of the position of the entire bolt is brought about at the same time by at least one stop, preferably inside the hole of the pedal body. Fixation of the position of the supporting bolt is thus guaranteed.

[0009] Special embodiments of the subject of the present invention additionally appear from the features of the subclaims.

[0010] It proved to be particularly advantageous to manufacture the bolt halves of the supporting bolt as hollow plastic cylinders, with the snap holder comprising at least two tooth projections locking in the axial longitudinal direction of the bolt halves, such that one tooth projection is arranged on the inner side of a hollow cylindrical bolt surface and the other tooth projection is arranged on the outer wall of the corresponding second hollow cylindrical bolt half. To increase the locking forces, a plurality of tooth projections may be arranged, in addition, at the ends of the bolt halves at regularly spaced locations from one another. If, moreover, tooth projections, distributed over the circumference, are arranged on the inner side of one hollow cylindrical bolt half and tooth projections are arranged on the outer side of the same hollow cylindrical bolt half, the two bolt halves used can be manufactured in this manner as identical parts, which substantially reduces the manufacturing costs as a consequence of the manufacture of only one press mold.

[0011] Moreover, provisions are made in an advantageous embodiment of the fastening device for the stop for fixing the supporting bolt to be formed by a projection arranged in the hole of the pedal body and a corresponding recess arranged in the outer side of the supporting bolt composed of the bolt halves. The projection may comprise in this case a single dog or, having a circular shape, it may be designed as a pocket, just like the recess in the supporting bolt, or as a circular groove arranged in the outer side of the bolt.

[0012] The assembly of the bolt halves may be facilitated by the tooth projection arranged on the outer side of one bolt half being provided at its front free end with a chamfer. This chamfer facilitates the introduction of the tooth projections into the hollow hole of the corresponding other bolt half.

[0013] An exemplary embodiment of the subject of the present invention will be explained in greater detail below on the basis of the attached drawings. In the drawings,

[0014]FIG. 1 shows a synoptic sectional view of the fastening device for a pedal of a motor vehicle,

[0015]FIG. 2 shows a sectional view through the two bolt halves of a supporting bolt according to the present invention, and

[0016]FIGS. 3 and 4 show two different embodiments of a supporting bolt, partially in a sectional view and in a spatial arrangement.

[0017] The fastening device shown in FIG. 1 for mounting a pedal body 1 comprises essentially a pedal block 2 and a supporting bolt 8 mounted within the pedal block 2. In the exemplary embodiment being shown, the pedal block 2 comprises a profiled sheet metal part with two side cheeks 3, 3A. A respective hole 4 and 4A, into which the respective mounting point 5 and 5A has been injected as an injection-molded plastic part, is provided in the side cheeks 3, 3A. To mount the supporting bolt 8, the mounting points 5 and 5A have an inserted slide bearing bush 6 and 6A, respectively.

[0018] As is apparent from FIG. 1, the supporting bolt 8 is accommodated with its respective free ends in a slide bearing bush 6 and 6A, and the pedal body 1 with a through opening 7, through which the supporting bolt 8 extends, is located between the mounting points and the side cheeks 3, 3A of the pedal block 2.

[0019] The supporting bolt 8 comprises, in turn, two bolt halves 9 and 10, which are locked with one another with a snap holder 11 arranged at the ends of the bolt halves 9 and 10, which said ends point toward one another.

[0020] Furthermore, it also appears from FIG. 1 that the supporting bolt 8 comprising the bolt halves 9, 10 is fixed in its position in the direction of the longitudinal axis 12 of the supporting bolt by a stop 13 arranged within the hole 7 of the pedal body 1. The stop 13 is designed as a circular projection protruding into the interior space of the hole 7 in this exemplary embodiment. Corresponding to this, a circular recess 14 designed as a groove is located in the supporting bolt 8.

[0021]FIG. 2 shows clearly that the bolt halves 9, 10 are designed as hollow cylinders. The snap holder 11 for locking the bolt halves 9, 10 comprises essentially tooth projections 15 on the bolt half 9 and tooth projections 16 on the bolt half 10, which said tooth projections are locked with one another. The tooth projection 15 is located on the outer side of the bolt 9 here, whereas the tooth projection 16 protrudes into the inner hole of the bolt half 10. To achieve a sufficient locking effect, a plurality of tooth projections, distributed symmetrically over the circumference, are located on the respective outer and inner sides of the bolt halves 9 and 10 in the exemplary embodiment being shown.

[0022] To facilitate the introduction of the bolt halves [—sic—half?—Tr.Ed.] 9 into the inner hole of the bolt half 10 during the locking operation of the two parts with one another, the tooth projections 15 have chamfers 17 on their free front ends.

[0023] The synoptic view in FIG. 1 shows clearly that the exemplary embodiment of the fastening device according to the present invention being shown is designed especially for use as a pedal release system. As was mentioned above, such a system is designed such that in the case of an accident, the side cheeks 3, 3A of the pedal block 2 are deformed due to suitable measures such that they move laterally outward in the direction of the arrows P in FIG. 1. The lateral offset is so great that the supporting bolt 8 accommodated in the bearing points 5 and SA is completely released. Due to the weight of the pedal body 1, the release of the supporting bolt 8 causes the pedal to drop off, so that the pedal is prevented from penetrating into the leg room of the vehicle in question.

[0024] The release of the supporting bolt may, of course, also take place if, e.g., the bolt halves 9 and 10 are provided at their free ends located outside the mounting point 5, 5A with steps, which hold the supporting bolt 8 in its position, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, do not offer any substantial resistance to the lateral outward movement of the side cheeks 3, 3A in case of an accident. The stop design shown in FIG. 1 thus represents only one possible embodiment variant of the present invention.

[0025] In other embodiments of the present invention, as they are shown, e.g., in FIGS. 3 and 4, tooth projections 16 are arranged alternatingly, distributed over the circumference, on the inner side of one bolt half 9 or 10 and tooth projections 15 are arranged at the same time on the outer side of the same bolt half 9 or 10. The bolt halves 9 and 10 being shown are designed as identical parts, so that only one injection mold is to be provided for manufacturing same. List of Reference Numbers  1 Pedal body  2 Pedal block  3 Side cheek  3A Side cheek  4 Hole  4A Hole  5 Mounting point  5A Mounting point  6 Slide bearing bush  6A Slide bearing bush  7 Hole  8 Supporting bolt  9 Bolt half I 10 Bolt half II 11 Snap holder 12 Longitudinal axis 13 Stop 14 Recess 15 Tooth projection 16 Tooth projection 17 Chamfer 

1. Fastening device for pedals in motor vehicles with a said supporting bolt (8), which is accommodated at its free ends in a said mounting point (5, 5A) each of a said pedal block (2) and has, between the said mounting points (5, 5A), a mounting point for the pedal, which latter mounting point is arranged in a said hole (7) of the said pedal body (2), characterized in that the said supporting bolt (8) comprises two said bolt halves (9, 10), which are locked with one another in the assembled state by a said elastic snap holder (11), wherein the said bolt halves (9, 10) are fixed by at least one said stop (13) with respect to their position to the pedal.
 2. Fastening device in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the said two bolt halves (9, 10) manufactured as identical parts are hollow plastic cylinders.
 3. Fastening device in accordance with one of the above claims, characterized in that the said snap holder (11) comprises at least two said tooth projections (15, 16) locking in the direction of the said axial longitudinal axis (12) of the said bolt halves (9, 10), such that one said tooth projection (15) is arranged on the inner side of the hollow cylindrical hole of one said bolt half (9) and the said other tooth projection (16) is arranged at the outer wall of the said corresponding second bolt half (10).
 4. Fastening device in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that the said snap holder (11) of the said two bolt halves (9, 10) have [sic—Tr.Ed.] alternatingly said tooth projections (15) distributed over the circumference on the inner side of the said cylinder hole of one said bolt half (9) and said tooth projections (16) on the outer side of the same bolt half.
 5. Fastening device in accordance with claim 3 or 4, characterized in that a plurality of said tooth projections (15, 16), arranged at regularly spaced locations, are arranged on the circumference of the said bolt halves (9, 10).
 6. Fastening device in accordance with one of the above claims, characterized in that the said stop (13) comprises a projection arranged in the said hole (7) of the said pedal body (1) and a said corresponding recess (14) arranged in the outer side of the said assembled supporting bolt (8).
 7. Fastening device in accordance with claim 6, characterized in that the projection has a shape extending circularly in the said hole (7) and the said recess (14) is a circular groove arranged in the outer side of the said supporting bolt (8).
 8. Fastening device in accordance with one of the claims 3 through 7, characterized in that the said tooth projection (15) arranged on the outer side of one said bolt half (9) has a said chamfer (17) at its front free end. 